Review of EuroTrip (2004) by Adam F — 01 Aug 2013

While "Eurotrip" isn't really what you would call a "good" comedy, it's got some solid laughs. The story begins with our main character Scott "Scotty" Thomas (Scott Mechlowicz) getting dumped by his girlfriend. After attending a party where his cheating girlfriend humiliates him (in probably the funniest part of the film due to a great, memorable song and a cameo by Matt Damon) Scott returns home and angrily blows off his German pen pal. The next morning he realizes that the pen pal is not "Mike" but "Mieke", a total hottie that is eager to meet him. She's blocked his email address so he decides to travel to Europe with his friend Cooper to apologize to her face-to-face. They meet up with their friends Jenny and Jamie, twins travelling Europe and the four go off on a wild trek to get laid, experience Europe and find Mieke.

There are a lot of bad jokes throughout the film and overall, the film is pretty predictable. You can tell that early on Jamie is being set up as a loser who is being picked on by the other three members of the posse just so he can get lucky with a girl or two. His character is meant to counterbalance Ronnie, who is obsessed with sex but for comedic reasons will have only unpleasant experiences. Scott is the bland main character who needs a happy ending (due to the humiliating break-up he suffered at the beginning) and Jenny, Jamie's smokin' sister is going to end up with someone after being just "one of the guys" throughout high school (you get two guesses who that will be). On top of that, the plot is pretty convoluted (does he not think of just creating a new email account and sending her a message?). Basically the beginning of the film and the plot overall is just an excuse to tie together a bunch of zany adventures.

Ok, so if the plot is just a reason to have a bunch of comedic set ups tied together does the comedy work? Well yes and no. There are some genuinely good comedic moments, but also quite a few that lose their comedic edge just because you can see them coming a mile away (the worst of which are the gags in the Vatican). The soccer hooligans are funny, there's a perverted Italian that gets in a couple of laughs, the previously mentioned song "Scotty Doesn't Know" is nearly a reason to see the movie in itself. There's also a solid comedic segment about eastern Europe and their exchange rates and a pot brownie gag that's pretty good too. For each one of these there are some stupid jokes that will only entertain the most undiscriminating audiences, like some jokes about absinthe, anything set in the Vatican and an embarrassing joke featuring a young child dressed up as Adolph Hitler (jokes about Nazis in a sex comedy? That just screams desperation).

I have to give credit where credit is due though the movie does gave some good laughs in it and when this movie says it's "Unrated" it really means it. There is a ton of nudity in the film, both male and female and a lot of it full frontal. If you're going to be a sex comedy, this is the way to do it. Just throw everything at the wall to see what sticks and when it doesn't, take off some clothing and distract the audience that way. For teenagers this will really hit the mark and they'll have a terrific time (I know the 13-year-old me would have drooled over the scene where Ronnie tricks a girl into fondling her own breasts). Really though, the movie is just average and if you like it, it'll be a guilty pleasure. It's the kind of movie where either you'll be able to forgive all the bad jokes and the other flaws or you'll just dismiss it outright as a bad wannabee of the R-rated teen comedy sex classics. "Eurotrip" is no comedy classic but it's at least worth a shot and even if you don't fall in love with it, there's always the song "Scotty Doesn't Know" that you can enjoy listening to.

(Unrated version on Dvd, July 31, 2013).